Trump: Santorum Lost in Senate, How Can He Win Presidency?

Donald Trump says if former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum lost his Senate seat by 19 points in 2006, he can’t beat President Barack Obama in 2012. The real estate mogul also compared Santorum on Fox News Wednesday to a high-school student expelled for bad grades who then wants to go to the Wharton School of Finance — Trump’s alma mater.

“Well, essentially, I have nothing against Rick Santorum . . . . He seems like a nice guy,” Trump told Fox’s Greta Van Susteren, a day after Santorum’s surprising sweep of three presidential contests. “But he ran for the Senate. He was a sitting senator, ran again for the Senate as an incumbent — he lost by 19 points. It was a record in the history of the U.S. Senate for an incumbent.

“He lost, and now he wants to run for president. And I made the analogy today: That’s like a student that gets thrown out of high school for bad marks . . . and then decides to go to the Wharton School of Finance. I went to go to the Wharton School of Finance — which is a very tough place and a great school,” he said. “So you know, it just doesn’t work that way, in my opinion. “The people in Pennsylvania threw him out and they threw him out by a wide margin, and they obviously weren’t happy — and now he’s going to be president. Tell me about it.”

Van Susteren noted that 2006 was a bad year for Republican candidates as they lost 23 of 33 races nationwide and the governorship in Pennsylvania by 20 points, but since then the GOP has been surging. Trump would not back away from his claim.

“Well, maybe it was and maybe it wasn’t — all I know is he lost by a record number. And I think, you know, how do you lose like that? Maybe it’s time to go into a different business, become a lawyer, but you’re not running for president,” Trump said. “The people of Pennsylvania didn’t like him — they thought he didn’t do a good job, he didn’t represent them well — they threw him out.

“Somebody beat him by tremendous numbers. And all of a sudden, he says: ‘Let’s become president’ — give me a break.”